


Round Trip

by cal1brations



Series: Papa Rin AU [2]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic, Gen, I seriously do not know what tags to use, M/M, Possibly Unrequited Love, There is more helpful info in the notes, that tag literally sums up this entire series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 21:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4721447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cal1brations/pseuds/cal1brations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Outside of exorcist things, Rin is a full-time father, and Suguro is a full-time monk. They are best friends. It should be as simple as that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Round Trip

**Author's Note:**

> So I am back with more of the now-dubbed Papa Rin AU! I am not sure how long this series will be or anything, but it's real, it's happening. I just wanted to mention that [ this person](http://www.neko-chicana.tumblr.com) is my best friend, and also the one who came up with this entire AU! (She also sometimes draws stuff for it so you should check out [her art](http://www.nekochicanaartblog.tumblr.com) if you have a mo or two!)
> 
> In this installment: a view into Suguro overthinking everything ever and a tiiiny peek into Rin's everyday life with his kids.

It’s not always like that.

When he’s with Rin, it doesn’t always end in a night of mind-blowing sex—which might be a bummer to some, considering the label their relationship _could_ more or less sport. It’s not always Suguro staying over to pound Rin into his mattress, waking up with tracks of red, puffy and a little bloody, all over his shoulders and back, or Rin sleeping so deeply, exhausted from sex, that he doesn’t even move in his sleep.

It’s like that a lot of the time, sure, because Rin’s there, and Suguro’s there, and there’s some other variables in there that balance the equation to equal a night with a round (or several). But it isn’t always. Partially because sometimes, they’re just too exhausted to bother, and Suguro really is just looking for a place to crash so he doesn’t have to drag himself back home with the threat of passing out on the way being a very real possibility. Other times it’s because Rin’s girls are home, and even if Rin insists it’s okay (and, to be fair, they’ve gotten up to things when the girls were asleep, late in the night), Suguro is often the voice of reason between the two of them.

But it’s also because, well, at the end of the day, they’re still as close as they were.

Not boyfriends—or, whatever a good word for that sort of relationship would be with two men in their thirties—but still friends. _Best_ friends. Friends who text almost every single day, friends that can talk about almost _anything_ without it being weird, friends that are comfortable enough to let their guard down around each other, for the most part.

It’s nice, even when they’re not having sex.

It’s a little complicated, to say the least.

* * *

 

Suguro’s here just because, which is as good a reason as any, as far as Rin’s concerned. Suguro being around during the day gives him one more person to look after the girls—even if they’re both good, not getting into trouble with each other (that often) or otherwise, it’s exhausting watching two eight-year-olds all day, every day, constantly.

Rin is devoted, that is fact, but he also needs a break now and again, whether he wants to admit it or not.

So Suguro helps him out when he can, sticks around tonight because Rin’s making yakisoba and, well, if Rin’s offering him a plate, Suguro is kind of helpless to try and leave; plus, Rin’s cooking is hands-down the best he has ever eaten, in his entire life, easily, so Suguro doesn’t quite _mind_ staying, either.

Plus, well. Some other sappy feelings that don’t belong in his gut at the thought of sitting at a table with Rin and his kids, unable to bite back his smile as he listens to Rin’s girls talk about their day, in between talking to Suguro; Megumi’s lisp makes her chirps of “Suguro!” melt his heart, if he’s really honest, though it’s right on-par with Ai’s quiet stares, ever attentive to anything Suguro has to tell them. Rin’s got a great thing going for him.

Later, Suguro insists on doing dishes while Rin gets the girls ready for bed, simply because Rin’s got enough to do, more complicated because Rin’s very apparent exhaustion makes Suguro’s chest feel a little tight; the guy truly runs himself ragged, around juggling two jobs and twin girls. He’s happy, though—he always says so. Suguro is very glad indeed, for that much.

Nonetheless, as Suguro’s scrubbing the last of the dishes, peacefully pensive as he loses himself in the motion of scrubbing and the sloshing of the soapy water, Rin slinks up behind him, snaking his arms around Suguro’s torso in a limp hug. He sighs, content, and presses his face into the space between Suguro’s shoulder blades, nuzzling him there slowly.

“Almost done,” Suguro tells him, trying his very hardest to focus on finishing up here and not on the happy little grunt of a noise Rin makes at his words, or on the feel of Rin pressed up against him, or the thought of Rin being comfortable enough to be like this around Suguro; as far as Suguro knows, he’s the only one that gets to see Rin like this, and that’s something that makes his heart backflip in his chest.

“Thanks—I could’ve done them,” Rin mutters, delayed response because of his nuzzling, and Suguro smiles a bit to himself, shutting the tap off and shaking his hands free of the lingering soap suds. When he leans to the side to grab a dry dish towel for his wet hands, Rin follows him in the motion, unmoving from his spot behind Suguro.

“It’s just dishes, Rin,” Suguro answers. “It’s fine.”

Rin grunts again, and Suguro slowly tries to turn around, without shoving Rin away, as best as he can.

The look on Rin’s face is almost comical, how tired he looks. But he still has a big smile on, bigger smile when Suguro looks at him, fangs peeking out and all, and Suguro snorts.

“You wanna go to sleep?”

Rin’s smile immediately falls into a pout, lower lip jutted out in play. “No way,” he grumbles. “You, like, _just_ got here—“

“I’ve been here since the morning, Rin—“

“I don’t want you to go home yet,” Rin finishes, smiles honestly, which, _shit_ , does things to Suguro that really shouldn’t happen, _fuck_ , Rin doesn’t know what he does to him. He swallows dryly then, giving Rin’s arm a gentle nudge as he forces away the awkwardness that threatens to seep out from his pores.

“S’go sit on the couch?”

Rin hums his agreement, and they shuffle out to the sofa. Rin flops down first, then wiggles out of the way so Suguro can sit, then plants his head in Suguro’s lap, long legs hanging off the armrest. The television—small, awful reception, but functional—is on with the volume way low, some news program quietly churning information in the background, but it’s not Suguro’s main focus.

There’s a soft _tump-tump_ sound that Suguro doesn’t understand for a bit, until he catches a swish of black at the corner of his eye, and notes that it’s probably Rin’s tail, bumping against the sofa as it moves in casual little sways. Rin yawns a few times, but he stays awake, so Suguro doesn’t try to shoo him to bed; Rin may be a father, but he’s still pretty awful at taking care of himself.

“Megumi was really excited for you to come over,” Rin finally says after a peaceful silence, probably only talking to keep himself awake as he looks up to Suguro from his place in the monk’s lap. “She’s been getting super into all that Buddhism stuff; no help from me, of course.”

“Since you’re such a good little Christian boy?” Suguro supplies, and Rin grins up at him, laughing quietly.

“Of _course_! You know me, going to church—rosaries and holy water, yeah, _definitely_ my scene!”

Suguro lets out a snort at that, sighing as he sinks a little deeper into the sofa. Rin yawns again, rubbing his hands over his face, and sighs quietly himself, relaxed. Which is good, Suguro wants him to be relaxed. Still doesn’t change the status of the slight bags under his eyes, though, the purple stains marking his lack of sleep.

“You usually this tired?” Suguro asks curiously, because the last he remembers, Rin was a pretty hardcore night owl. With kids it’s different, of course, but something lately must be off, because Rin certainly hasn’t been this tired so early since his kids were tiny infants.

Rin smiles, shrugs, tilts his head left and right a little. “It’s been a rough week,” he admits. “The girls have been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately; they keep coming to my room in the middle of the night.”

Suguro doesn’t know what to say to that, so he doesn’t say anything, and waits for Rin to continue, or change the topic, or something, at least. Rin decides to continue, though, so Suguro sticks with that.

“They keep waking up at night—they’re _terrified_ of the dark, monsters and stuff.”

Suguro, quick on the uptake, slowly wonders, “They’re…?”

“They can see ‘em,” Rin says, and the look in his eyes is distant, a little scary in itself. He looks… solemn, staring up at the ceiling like that. But, his gaze falls away and he shrugs, seemingly trying to shrink into himself as he mutters, “Sucks. I don’t like seeing them get so upset about it.”

“But you talked to them about it,” Suguro supplies quickly. Then he frowns when Rin says nothing in agreement, does nothing in general except close his eyes for a long moment. “…Right? You did talk to them about demons and stuff?”

Rin’s answer is very slow, the verbal equivalent to dragging his feet. “I… told them about _monsters_ —not _demons_ , per se. Like… the ones that hide in closets.”

“ _Rin_ ,” Suguro sighs almost immediately as Rin’s mumbled confession comes out, looking down to Rin in his lap. “You _have_ to tell them, especially if they’re seeing—”

Rin’s eyes narrow a little as he interrupts Suguro’s chiding before it turns into a full-blown lecture, a little icy, “I’m gonna do it,” he grumbles, quite prickly about the subject, and rightfully so. “I can’t just dump it on them all at once. They’re _eight_ _years old_ , Suguro. I have to tell them, _I_ _know_ ; just— let ‘em live like it is for now.”

Suguro is quiet at that, because it suddenly occurs to him that this is not a friend-zone topic. Suguro is not anything but Rin’s best friend nowadays. He is a supportive adult in Rin’s childrens’ lives, in Rin’s life, but he is not an _active_ part of their family, like Rin or Yukio is. He does not have authority to tell Rin how to go about something like this, both because he is the role that he is and because he is what he is—completely human. He has a temptaint, and he is Rin’s best friend, those are his only correlations that would allow him any tiny say in the matter.

Suguro mumbles an apology, just a quick, “Sorry,” that makes Rin smile with obvious forgiveness, rolling his eyes with amusement.

“Don’t be—it’s whatever,” Rin answers, rolling it off his shoulders entirely; something Suguro envies a little. Rin is just so easy-going. “Hey, are you gonna stay the night?”

Suguro glances up to the clock, pursing his lips in thought. It’s not exactly late, just barely nine in the evening, but he’s… pretty comfortable. He shouldn’t stay, because it just paints a picture that he is not allowed to be involved with, this kind of domestic bliss that isn’t supposed to come with friendship but with something _else_ , something else they do not have right now, because they are busy adults with busy lives.

Outside of exorcist things, Rin is a full-time father, and Suguro is a full-time monk. They are best friends. It should be as simple as that.

But lately (for a long while, actually), it’s been more like this: Rin is a full-time father, Suguro is a full-time monk. They are best friends. They sleep together sometimes. Suguro harbors a painful desire to ask for something more than “best friend” status, but Rin’s got too much on his plate as it is that he can’t bother to bring up the conversation, doesn’t want to stress Rin out even more than what he normally has to deal with. Things stay as they are—complicated and confusing, as usual.

“Hell- _o_?” Rin calls, clapping his hands up in front of Suguro’s face to get his attention from the void of space he’s staring into so intently. Suguro blinks a few times, trying to recall his train of thought before he derailed into things best left untouched for now, and shrugs.

“Whatever’s fine,” he answers easily. Tomorrow isn’t a school day for the girls, but Suguro still needs to be back in Kyoto in the morning. But Rin looks cozy, _happy_ , and the grin Rin gives him at the answer does terribly-wonderful things to his heart; so he guesses he’s going to be staying.

Rin rolls himself up from the couch, hopping up to his feet with a kind of energy that only comes at the end of the day, the last burst to get a person to a place where they can finally rest. Rin gives Suguro’s arm a yank, implores with a grunt of, “Come _on_ ,” that makes Suguro smirk as he hoists himself up from the sofa. Rin moves to flick the television off, then the lights, waving at Suguro to follow.

This isn’t weird, really. Suguro knows every single inch of Rin’s body, intimately so. He’s had Rin’s cock in his mouth, he’s showered with him. It’s not that big a deal to share a bed with Rin; Suguro might think maybe Rin has been feeling the same he has lately, about… whatever the relationship they have right now is called, but Rin gives Suguro a weird little laugh, just telling him, “It’d be weird if you slept on the couch; the girls would wake you up in the morning, anyway.”

So Suguro tries to stomp out any kindling of hope to try and approach the topic he’s been thinking about so often lately. If Rin likes things the way they are, well… Suguro likes it, too, granted, but he definitely wouldn’t object to more.

But he’s not greedy.

Suguro strips to his undershirt and boxers, crawls under the covers only after Rin does, since it seems polite. He tries to keep a modest bit of space between them, but Rin is quick to remedy that, sliding up beside Suguro—it’s borderline snuggling, but Suguro doesn’t say anything. Rin’s just a cuddly guy. Yeah. Especially with Suguro. That’s it.

Rin mumbles something that sounds like a tired, “Goodnight,” that Suguro responds to with a small hum. He lies there, in Rin’s bed, with Rin, staring up at the ceiling, trying not to think too hard about the delicious warmth of Rin’s body against him, the puffs of Rin’s gentle breaths against his arm. Is it bad if he settles Rin a little closer to him so he can be comfortable? Who knows.

All Suguro knows is that he listens to Rin fall asleep, his breaths going deep and slow the deeper he falls into slumber. Suguro wants to sleep, he does, but he also just wants to think, wants to understand and figure out and be done thinking so he doesn’t have to do it anymore, because at this rate he’s going to get a migraine.

Things with Rin have changed, but Suguro doesn’t want them to be different. They were together for years, and then they were not. Rin became a father in the time they were apart.

Rin was with another person after Suguro.

Suguro hasn’t been with anyone else. He hasn’t _wanted_ to be with anyone else.

It doesn’t really bother him, to think Rin was with someone after him, because, well, that’s to be expected, after a break up. Rin is also a funny guy, a sweet guy, and a good guy, so Suguro understands how easy it is to fall in love with him—

No, no. He’s… probably not in love with Rin. Not anymore.

…Okay, he kind of is. A lot.

But the thought of Rin being with someone else also kind of solidifies the fact he’s pretty much _over_ Suguro, doesn’t it? That they’re just… whatever they are, and Rin doesn’t want more from this, er, exchange. Friends. That fuck sometimes. And also cuddle together, like this.

Rin lets out a snore, smacks his lips and settles down a little better, still snuggled up against Suguro like nothing’s even weird about it.

Is anything weird about it?

Suguro ends up exhausting himself with all of this thought, simply too tied-up in strings he’s not willing to try and untangle.

“I dunno what to do,” he whispers, the words barely even audible. Rin doesn’t stir (he could sleep through a bomb going off, absolutely, Suguro is sure), and Suguro sighs as he closes his eyes, trying to put all of this churning information to the back of his mind in favor of getting some rest.

He indulges a little in Rin’s closeness, and when they (well, Suguro, anyway; he still has to get back home) wake up in the morning, tangled together, neither one of them says a word about it, just act like it’s how things are, now.

Suguro heads home, waving to Rin and the girls as they stand in the doorway, waving him goodbye in the early morning.

He tries quite hard not to think about how that makes him want to smile. They’re a cute family, that’s for sure—

 _Rin’s_ got a cute family, that is.

Suguro has a full-blown migraine throbbing at the back of his eyes by the time he’s back in Kyoto.

**Author's Note:**

> ey yo this is also my 100th fic on here!!


End file.
